Rich Hofmann

DAILY NEWS SPORTS EDITOR

Rich Hofmann arrived at the Daily News in 1980 for a job whose status was officially designated as "full-time, temporary." A senior at Penn at the time, he was hired to fill in on the copy desk during a staff illness. The notion of him covering the Eagles or being a columnist did not exist in anyone's imagination. It was supposed to be six weeks and out, but he never left. It is only one of the reasons why so many people have concerns about him as a potential house guest.

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CHICAGO -- Twenty-eight seconds. Shorter than a television commercial, longer than eternity.

How long does it take to lose a hockey game? How long does it take to challenge the fates, again?

In one 28-second span of the second period, the Flyers lost Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. In just that amount of time -- less time than it takes to sing a typical anthem, more time than it takes to recognize a dirge -- Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton went from the star of the game to just another player on a team that is in an 0-2 hole in the biggest series of their lives.

The final score was Blackhawks 2, Flyers 1. The series now shifts to the Wachovia Center. The odds now are much longer than they were on the day before.

The Flyers have seen worse, of course -- just a couple of weeks ago, when they trailed the Boston Bruins by three games to none in the NHL Eastern Conference semifinals. They survived that, making history. To count them out is to ignore what just happened. At the same time, to pretend that the Blackhawks aren’t better than the Bruins, and that a deficit in the Final is not more emotionally crushing than any other, is to ignore the truth.

And the thing is, for 35-or-so minutes in Game 2, it appeared as if Leighton was going to lead them to something much greater. After being pulled in the second period of Game 1, after allowing five goals on 20 shots and never making a big save, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette stuck with Leighton and was rewarded with the kind of performance that a team needs to win a typical Stanley Cup game.

He just looked sharp again, in command of his crease again. And while he did not have to withstand nearly the kind of onslaught that he faced in Game 1, Leighton was good and precise as the first period melted into the second period, as the nervousness of the night built upon itself, multiplying and then multiplying again in the United Center.

And then it happened. Twenty-eight seconds.

The first Chicago goal was scored by Marian Hossa, on a rebound in front. Troy Brouwer took the shot, Leighton made the save, and then the rebound came out to Leighton’s left. Flyers defenseman Lukas Krajicek took a swipe at it, futilely, and it was Hossa instead who made contact with the puck.

That was a tough one, clearly. But it was the next one that determined the outcome. Twenty-eight seconds. Former Flyer Ben Eager, on the rush, with defenseman Matt Carle contesting, fired a rocket over Leighton’s glove. It was unclear if Leighton had a great look at it or not. It was like most goals in hockey, just a goal.

But in a game of this magnitude, it was crushing.

Leighton could no longer be the star.

The Flyers, to their credit, did not give up. Quite to the contrary, they dominated the third period in a way that neither team had really been able to dominate a period in the first two games. Simon Gagne scored with 1 second remaining on a power play, at 5:20 of the third period, to cut the deficit to 2-1. And the truth is, the Flyers had a half-dozen good chances after that -- Gagne, Mike Richards, Claude Giroux, a bunch of them.

But here is the other truth: in the defensive mess that was Game 1, Blackhawks goaltender Antti Niemi competed better, and in the much tighter, much more traditionally-played Game 2, Niemi was better again.